A Brief Introduction to Islam and Ramadan

Granted, I am in no way a scholar of Islamic studies. Yet being in a country that, generally, is traditionally more religious in public life, we've had our crash course both in the classroom and in our everyday interaction with our local counterparts. Since Islam really plays such a large part in the lives of the people I am meeting here, I will of course be referring to many of its traditions and rituals at any given point over the next few years. So here's a crash course in Ramadan, which has a slight misconception in the United States, though its general device is well enough understood.

Of course, at this point I have to clarify that the following are my own observations or are the result of conversations I have had thus far.

Ramadan is actually the name of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Its role is very much that of the Christian Lent, wherein both celebrate personal sacrifice as a way to become closer to the prophet, be he Jesus Christ or Mohammed. Ramadan does not celebrate an ultimate sacrifice on the part of Mohammed, but rather the sacrifices he made when he would often go into the desert to fast and become one with Allah, and in that manner purify himself.

Thus, Ramadan is about far more than just fasting. While fasting does occur between dawn and sunset, the purification ritual goes to such an extent that a Muslim may not ingest any substance (or in many cases allow it to even pass their lips,) and thus do not eat, drink, or even smoke during the day. For more fervent believers, they will even refuse to swallow excess spit in their mouths! They also abstain from sex during the day, due of course to certain, ahem, "fluid exchange."

According to Muslim tradition, those who have not reached puberty, any pregnant or menstruating women, and anyone who is sick or traveling considerable distance during the day is not expected to fast; in all but the first case they are, however, expected to make up that day at a later period. In most Muslim societies, laws are passed stating that any Muslim found breaking fast in public who does not meet any of the above stipulations will be punished. There is supposedly a similar law in Morocco, though I have yet to be able to confirm this with someone. Also, though non-Muslims are not expected to fast as well (and we were often invited at the start of the month to eat or drink as we wished), many people here are very thankful for those who respect the fast, because the sight of food or drink in public can be very trying and in some cases even considered to be almost taunting. Smoking in particular is considered haram, or sinful, during Ramadan and most Muslims who insisted we follow our traditional habits did ask that we try to refrain from smoking because second-hand smoke was considered to be breaking the fast. Even outside Ramadan, smoking is generally considered to be unclean and in more conservative areas people have been ostracized entirely from communities for smoking cigarettes.

In Islam, one of the five pillars of faith is prayer and submission to Allah. Muslims are expected to pray five times a day, and in general I have noticed that a good number of people go to mosque to pray at least once a day. The mudin is the man who announces the call to prayer to which Islam is also famous, and he issues the call to prayer five times a day: dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and night. Thus, the fourth call to prayer at sunset is when Muslims are allowed to break their fast, and the fifth is generally when many go to mosque. When we arrived in country, I actually barely noticed the call to prayer, but since Ramadan greatly affects my own habits, I have become more in tune with them and have, of course, learned to predict the fourth call to prayer recently due just to the position of the setting sun.

In Fez, sunset during Ramadan is marked by the firing of a large cannon, however in smaller villages all activity ceases. In older times, you had to have your ear turned towards the mosque to hear the mudin, but thankfully in modern times he is able to use a loudspeaker. Granted, cities and towns are larger and many people live further from the mosque, so at any rate either at work or at home, activity in general stops, the TV or radio is turned off and windows opened. Once the mudin begins the call to prayer with an absolutely thunderous Allahu Akbar! ("God is great!") Muslims are allowed to end their daily fast. Literally, "break fast," or as it is called here, L-ftur.

In all reality, L-ftur is a giant family free-for-all. Usually the mother will have prepared all the food well in advance and laid it out on the table, and it is not unusual for family members to chug entire drinks in the first few seconds after break fast is announced. Older family members will generally quench their thirst before going to pray and then returning to eat, but younger members dig right in. A Ramadan meal consists of lots of varieties of bread and a meat dish for the entire table to share. There is also a soup called hrra (her-rer-rah) which is kind of like tomato soup with pasta/vermicelli, chickpeas, and lentil beans, and hrra is served every night of Ramadan without fail. Today is the 26th day of Ramadan, and at this point if I see hrra ever again in my life I may be quite unhappy! There are also tmar, or dates, aplenty, and two delightful dessert dishes. One is called sfuf, and it is basically ground nougat and nuts, and has a sandy texture that lets you eat it just about however you please. My personal favorite is called shbkia (sh-bek-iya) and it starts with bits of rolled dough that are drizzled with honey and then fried, which locks the honey inside. Afterwards, it's once again drizzled with honey and topped with toasted sesame seeds.

Due to the Ramadan cycle, most Muslims will eat again close to midnight, and one more time shortly before dawn. In my current town, a man with a bugle even walks around at about three in the morning to certain sections of town to make sure people are up. I forget what he is called, but I do know that one of those places he stops is, of course, right below my window.

Even though many of us are not fasting, Ramadan still affects us in several ways. First, no cafés are open during the day, even in the big cities. Second, some people do take offense to others eating in public (more so in smaller towns which tend to be more conservative), and word will eventually get back to us via our facilitators or counterparts that we were seen. The second case is more cultural sensitivity, since when you think about it, besides sipping a beverage in public when do you usually have a full meal right in the public eye? To be nice, we do try to eat or drink indoors, and I did catch myself on the second day of Ramadan about to take a swig of water in full view of several onlookers. However, the total lack of food available during the day is maddeningly frustrating. In Fez, on the 26th day I finally broke down and went to McDonald's for lunch, but in my smaller town there is no such option. Usually, I'm forced to go a local Hanut, or convenience store, and there all I can get are sodas or water and junk food. I've had many a "lunch" consisting of a soda and a few little bags of chips which best resemble a mix between chex mix and a baked version of Andy Capp's fries.

Since I am staying with a family when I am training in my town, I have also noticed that Ramadan forces a family to be together more so than normal. Only once have I seen a family member not seated at the table waiting eagerly for L-ftur to begin. For other meals of the day, the family can sometimes follow American-style habits, such as eating in front of the TV or even in a bedroom, but for break fast the entire family eagerly comes together.

There are two other very important facets of Ramadan. The first is laila L-qadr, or "the night of power." This begins on the 26th night at sunset and lasts until the 27th morning at dawn in Morocco, though tradition in other Muslim countries has it on different days (usually an odd-numbered morning during the final week.) On laila L-qadr, it is believed among Muslims that Allah first delivered the Qur'an to Mohammed. Because of this, oftentimes men will go to the mosque to pray from sundown to sunup, and women will stay at home performing other cleansing rituals (of which one popular ritual is Hna tattooing) or bringing food to those praying at the mosque. The belief is that at the exact moment during the night when Allah delivered the Qur'an (which is hidden to everyone except for the Prophet, who never said exactly when during the night it occurred) Heaven will open up, and God will hear and grant your prayer sometime during the next year. Thus, since Muslims do not know when this exact moment will be during the night, they pray all night to ensure that their prayers are heard! The mudin also takes part, and at sunset he begins reading the Qur'an over the loudspeaker, and he must be finished reading the entire manuscript by dawn.

The other important day is Eid Sghrir (Eed Seh-hreer) or "the little feast." All months in the Islamic calendar follow the lunar cycle, so for Ramadan to have ended, the new moon must be sighted to signify the beginning of the tenth month. This will occur either on the 29th day or on the 30th, so on the 29th night every family clusters around the TV or radio to hear if the new moon has been sighted. If it has, Eid Sghrir will be begin the next morning or if not, in one day's time. During the little feast, families cook tons of food, especially sweets, and families will go to visit all of their friends and relatives. The poor also collect alms at this time by coming to knock at doors and receive food, since alms-giving is another of the five pillars of faith. This visitation can sometimes last for days as families travel to nearby cities or villages, giving thanks and sharing in the delights of food during the day.

This marks the official end of Ramadan and of the month of fasting, though the five pillars of faith are supposed to occur on a daily basis.

Although I am writing this on the 26th night/27th morning (and yes, people were out in the streets all night long banging on drums and chanting, and the area around the nearest mosque was completely swamped) I'll not be able to post it until the 29th day, so my observations of laila L-qadr will be in a separate entry.

If you are confused or disagree with any of the above (because again, these are either my observations or the result of informal discussion) please comment so we can make sure there is no confusion about so important a subject!